Chapter Forty-Five: A Streak of Fortunate Events

On the very day Li Hong came looking for Lou Yanru, Lou Yanru handed over both the photographs and the whistleblower letter to her.

As soon as Li Hong left, Lou Yanru was filled with regret. Since Liu Weidong had kept those items all along, they must have had their uses; perhaps her kindness had been misplaced in the wrong hands.

That night, Liu Weidong slept soundly and peacefully, but Lou Yanru suffered from insomnia.

The next day, the novel *Legend of the Great Green Mountains*, authored under the pen name Ru Qing, was published in the newspaper.

Liu Weidong bought several copies of the newspaper. Not only did he paste one on the wall of his own home, but he also gave copies to the tailoring shop across the street and the nearby neighbors, proudly telling everyone he met that it was written by his wife.

Seeing his painstaking efforts gradually turning into reality made Liu Weidong feel increasingly secure at heart.

Build the nest, till the land, and soar into the sky.

In his past life, he had never felt as confident as he did now.

Waiting until half-past eight, Liu Weidong carefully wrapped a few pieces of antique porcelain in newspaper and carried them with him to the Number Three Department Store.

Wang Li (Manager Wang) examined the porcelain he brought closely, though Liu Weidong had no idea whether he truly understood antiques.

"I'll handle the packaging boxes and certificates; just wait for my word. However, going through the channels of the Bureau of Commerce and foreign trade will definitely incur some costs. You need to be mentally prepared for that."

Hearing Wang Li say this, Liu Weidong smiled.

"How could I not know these rules? As I've said before, let's make money together. These few pieces are just the beginning. If this really turns out to be a viable path, I'll take a trip down to the countryside; perhaps I'll encounter some more good items."

Manager Wang nodded. "Your way of thinking is quite progressive, isn't it? Almost no one in the north is dabbling in antiques right now. No matter what business you're in, having the first-mover advantage is crucial, and your current identity makes you the most suitable person to handle this.

"How about this? Come with me to the museum right now. When it comes to which antiques are valuable around our Binjiang area, Curator Yu knows better than anyone else."

Naturally, Liu Weidong's few pieces of porcelain would not catch the eye of the museum; at best, they were curio items rather than genuine cultural relics.

However, there was one thing that pleased Liu Weidong: Museum Curator Yu Cheng happened to know his father-in-law and maintained a fairly good relationship with Lou Nan.

"I never expected Lou Nan's son-in-law to have an eye for antiques and calligraphy. If you truly rescue cultural relics buried among the common folk, that will be a great deed of everlasting merit. Of course, any precious cultural relics discovered must still be turned over to the state, but antiques like these, which don't qualify as cultural relics, can be taken to earn foreign exchange, which is also contributing to the country."

Having obtained the appraisal certificates, Yu Cheng helped find boxes to properly package those pieces of antiques, and before Liu Weidong left, he even handed him a few books on antique appraisal.

"Weidong, with appraisals from a professional department, selling them to foreign merchants should fetch a higher price than we anticipated. Most importantly, it allows you to establish a connection with foreign buyers. As far as I know, Hong Kong businessmen are looking for many things, such as the wild ginseng in your hands, as well as tiger bone, musk, and bear bile. If you want to rely on the Great Green Mountains to develop specialty agriculture, having more clients is always better than working behind closed doors."

Liu Weidong could not help casting a few extra glances at Wang Li.

He had not expected Wang Li to be so far-sighted; truly, those with a mind for business were exceptionally sharp.

Upon returning to the Number Three Department Store, Liu Weidong called the Second Production Team. Wang Jianguo reported that they had mobilized people to cut down quite a few poplar trees and were planning to deliver them to the machinery factory in the next couple of days. He also asked how the land for planting medicinal herbs should be prepared. Liu Weidong carefully explained the soil requirements, and Wang Jianguo promised to lead people to open up wasteland on the mountain slopes immediately.

"Weidong, you want to start cultivating traditional Chinese medicinal herbs right now? Isn't the risk a bit too high?" Wang Li asked with some concern.

"Brother Wang, you don't quite understand the situation in our commune. We've suffered natural disasters for two consecutive years, and the grain harvested from the fields is only enough to fulfill the state grain quota. The team members are getting by on wild vegetables and gourds.

"I know the current policies are still somewhat ambiguous, but we simply cannot let our fellow villagers starve. Planting medicinal herbs is a collective action of the production team; I'm merely helping to run errands. Even if it violates policy, it's easy to explain."

Only then did Wang Li nod. "You must make sure not to bring trouble upon yourself. Although policies have relaxed somewhat, the crackdown on speculation and profiteering is still quite strict. It's not worth risking your own safety to help the villagers."

Opening up wasteland on the mountain slopes came with strict requirements. Strictly speaking, Liu Weidong should have returned to the Second Production Team, but his wife was about to take the college entrance examination, and once the firewood was sold, he also needed to go procure traditional Chinese medicinal herb seedlings. Truly caught in a dilemma, he could only attend to one thing at a time.

Leaving the Number Three Department Store, Liu Weidong kept pondering what Wang Li had said.

The policy opening up was still hiding behind a veil like a reluctant bride; the more it was like this, the more cautious one had to be. Liu Weidong carefully reviewed everything he had done during this period—whether selling patents or exchanging timber for grain—none of it violated state policies.

However, with Li Baotian's family in the Second Production Team, Liu Weidong still harbored misgivings about clearing the wasteland.

As long as private plots did not exceed the limit, the higher-ups no longer interfered, but large-scale wasteland reclamation was still forbidden by the commune. For the Second Production Team to do this was equivalent to openly defying the commune's revolutionary committee.

He only hoped Wang Jianguo could withstand the pressure.

Back home, Liu Weidong resumed writing his book. Unexpectedly, at noon, the front gate was suddenly knocked. When Liu Weidong opened it, to his surprise, it was Song Yi.

"Your place is really easy to find. I asked the neighbors, and everyone knew you, and even mentioned that your wife is a young writer. Your household is quite famous around these parts, eh?"

Liu Weidong hurriedly invited Song Yi in to sit down. Catching sight of the newspaper pasted on the wall, Song Yi nodded repeatedly.

"It truly takes one to know one; judging by your wife's writing style, she is quite extraordinary. The electric motors and bearings we procured have arrived. If you're free, come with me to the machinery factory to take a look—Master Liu and the others are assembling the machine right away."

Without delay, Liu Weidong followed Song Yi to the machinery factory.

As soon as they stepped into the workshop, they saw a group of workers clustered around a machine. When Liu Weidong and Song Yi approached, the workers quickly dispersed. Master Liu was currently using testing instruments to check various performance indicators of the machine.

"How is it, Master Liu? Any problems?" Song Yi asked, anxiety written all over his face.

"I've tested it repeatedly, and all the data are normal. We've just been waiting for Engineer Liu to come and conduct a trial run. Much of the data can only be gathered after the trial run; it's impossible to say for sure right now."

Without its outer casing, every single detail of the machine was clearly visible to Liu Weidong.

He walked over, inspected it thoroughly, reviewed the data recorded by Master Liu, and nodded.

"Judging by the current indicators, it meets the conditions for a trial run. But don't expect the trial run to succeed on the first try; this is, after all, the country's first independently developed modular separation oil press. Compared to similar foreign products, we've already achieved a cornering overture."

Once powered on, the machine operated smoothly, yet Liu Weidong kept his head close to the machine, continuously taking notes in his notebook. An hour after the trial run, the machine was shut down, and Liu Weidong invited Song Yi, Master Liu, and other technical backbones to the office.

"There is abnormal noise, and the issue likely stems from a lack of precise fit between the parts we manufactured and the imported bearings we purchased. Precision machinery cannot afford even a hair's breadth of error. I need to dismantle our parts and the imported ones, take them to the research institute for further testing, and find out where the discrepancy lies. If it's a material issue, we'll have to re-forge them. However, judging from the data of this first trial run, it is already a tremendous success."

Thunderous applause echoed continuously and refused to subside.

The engineers and veteran technicians of the machinery factory shed tears of excitement.

One had to realize that by helping the oil mill manufacture this machine, the machinery factory had not only accumulated a wealth of experience but also improved its stamping and forging technology under Liu Weidong's guidance—a kind of technology that could not be bought with any amount of money.